19 Months Means...

...A more extensive vocabulary. Some words are really clear and some words are only ones that Chad and I can recognize. He is saying his friends' names very clearly, but "bubus" is what he says for blueberries. I know this because he asks for blueberries every time we put him in his high chair.
...Lots of food. Multiple snacks on top of all of his table food. For dinner the other night he ate asparagus, 3 chicken nuggets, half a quesadilla, blueberries, some crackers and a cookie. My mom said that when I was little she used to run the garbage disposal when she was getting food out for herself so I wouldn't hear it and want some. Well...the other day I was getting some goldfish (for myself) and sure enough - Brooks came running from the other room, "GOFISH! GOFISH!" Wow. Maybe that garbage disposal trick isn't all that bad of an idea.
...More playtime. Brooks is starting to learn how to "play" with things. When playing with his blocks the other day I taught him how to "fly" the blocks through the air to pretend it was an airplane. Chad started playing with his animal toys and making them move around and make noise. Now Brooks does the same thing. He'll take his cow and make it walk across my legs. It's fun to see him really playing with his toys (and making a mess).
...More time in the corner. Brooks is an absolute sweetheart...BUT, he does have his moments. He is really into hitting these days. He hits when he doesn't get his way, he hits when he wants something and I won't give it to him, and he hits sometimes just because. It's not a fun stage. So, he gets flicked on the hand, goes and sits in the corner, and then has to come apologize. The frustrating thing is that he doesn't seem too upset when he has to sit in the corner.
...Singing and Dancing. Brooks will say, "Moomoo?!" as he points to the stereo and does a little dance move. His dance moves haven't improved much, but he still looks pretty dang cute. And in the car he'll sometimes just be back there singing to himself. The other day he kept singing and then stopping to say, "Yeah!" as he clapped for himself. It's times like that I wish I had my camera.
...More of an attachment to his blankies and paci. He only gets these things at bedtime, but he definitely loves them. He'll carry his blankies around with him before bed and he asks for them by name. His blankies he refers to as, "Mimi". I'm not sure why. And his paci he calls, "Dada. I don't think he can say the /p/ sound very well, which is why "paci" sounds like "dada". I never imaged that he would still be sleeping with a paci at this age, but oh well. I love the weekends when I get to put him down for a nap and he falls asleep listening to a story and rubbing his blankie. It's the only time I can get him to sit still and cuddle.

My "baby" is closer to 2 than he is to 1...here we go!

(Sorry there are no pictures this time...I need to get my camera out just for fun.)

Mt. Bonnell

"Mount Bonnell is a prominent point alongside Lake Austin. It has long been a popular picnicking & tourist spot ever since the mid-1800s, where one can obtain an excellent view of the City of Austin, Lake Austin, & the surrounding hills of the Hill Country."

Thought the tourism site of Austin could explain Mt. Bonnell better than I could. We went out there after the New Year to explore and enjoy the sunset.
It was amazing!

Growing Up...

My little boy is growing everyday.

Sleeping.
At school this week he slept on a nap mat instead of in a pack-and-play...for THREE HOURS!!! That's right - from 12:30-3:10, Brooks has been sleeping on a mat...on the floor! He never once got up or ran around the room. He is the youngest in his "school" so apparently Ms. Kelly said that he thought it was the cool thing to do to sleep on his mat. He even gets up before the others, and he still just lays there and "talks" until Ms. Kelly's gets him up. I can hardly believe it!
My Little Helper.
He is also getting more interested in "helping" around the house. He helped me "clean" the other day:

Okay, so maybe I posed that picture a little bit. But he was using the paper towel to clean after I sprayed. He LOVED it!
Eating.
This kid eats A TON! On Tuesday night he ate 4 snacks, half a chicken breast, half a tortilla, 5 strawberries, cheese, and broccoli. Really? I can hardly keep up! At 5:00 on Wednesday he took his highchair tray to Chad and said, "Eat!" And then he walked Chad over to his chair. I have to try to distract him every night while I cook his dinner. And THEN while Chad and I are eating he comes up to us and says, "Bite?" He's so cute, I can't resist. Chad, however, doesn't share well.
Parrot.
He tries to repeat almost anything that we'll ask him to say. He loves to say people's names, animal sounds, and he points out lots of things in books. It won't be long before he's speaking in sentences.
I love EVERY minute of my time with my son. He is totally lovable, totally fun, and totally adorable. I feel so blessed that God has trusted us in raising him. Thank you, Lord.

"CHEESE!"

Brooks is learning to pose for the camera by saying, "CHEESE!"

Christmas in Corpus

After spending time in Austin with Gammy and Pops, we traveled down to Corpus to meet up with EVERYONE. This is the first time in 3 years that the whole Hoffman Crew has gotten together, and it has been 5 years since we've been together for Christmas. That's 8 adults and 5 children sharing a roof. It was an absolute blast. It was Christmas Eve before everyone arrived, and we rushed and got ready for church. Here are all the cousins lined up after church in front of the Christmas tree.
(From left to right: Dawson, Brodie, Brooks, Bryan, and Megan):

Christmas morning we opened so many presents...it was a little overwhelming. Brooks actually did great digging into his stocking and helping to open his presents. A little different from last year when he just sat there. Brooks got lots of Elmo stuff, books, some clothes, and a cho-cho train. He loved every minute of it.

This was Brooks' face after every present that he opened, accompanied with a long, "OOOHH!"

More important than opening presents, is celebrating the birth of Christ.
Isaiah 9:6 says: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." We had party plates and hats that said, "Happy Birthday Jesus", and we had a cake and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. It was such a wonderful reminder about why we celebrate Christmas.

While in Corpus Brooks also got to experience his first taste of Mimi's Tacos. Mimi is Brooks' Great-Grandma and she makes the best tacos! I think she cooks them for us every time we go to Corpus. She makes the tacos shells and seasons the beef just right. Brooks had two helpings!

A special treat was that Scoops and Birdie treated the whole family to a few nights in a condo on the beach. We stayed at Port Royale and split up between two 3-bedroom condos. It was windy and chilly, but we made the best of it and spent some time on the beach. It was Brooks' first time on the beach! I can't wait to take him back in the summer.

Christmas in Austin...Finally!

2002. 2002 was the last Christmas that we actually LIVED in Texas. 2003 we were in New Zealand celebrating Christmas while horseback riding through the South Island...not too shabby. And ever since then we've lived in Colorado. Most of the time we came down to celebrate Christmas with family in Texas, but this is the first Christmas in 7 years that we've actually lived here amidst our family in Texas. We started celebrating with Gammy and Pops the week before Christmas. We did Christmas early so Brooks could have some time to play with his new toys while Gammy and Pops were here:

The boys assembling Brooks' new work bench...a little ironic:

We spent our nights hanging out, going for walks, and smoking cigars:



And we started a tradition at Zilker Park:


We ate at Chuy's and walked over to Zilker Park and the Walk of Lights. It was a perfect night...not too cold, but it was cold enough to remind us that it was winter. We started to walk under the huge tree and spun around under the tree of lights. I could hardly look up without getting dizzy. Brooks and Chad spun a lot and Brooks LOVED it. He thought it was pretty funny. Then we strapped him into the BOB and strolled around. The lights were fun, but we were glad we didn't have to pay to get in. The decorations and displays seemed kind of old. Like they used to be really cool and have bright colors, but now they are just old, faded, and out-dated. But, Brooks loved looking at the lights, and I'm sure it will be something that we'll do every year.

Merry Christmas from Texas!
Love,
Team Hoff